Pam's Pasta Bake

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I will have to guesstimate some of the quantities because I just made this recipe up out of my head and it turned out really well.

1/2 big bag of Rotini pasta, cooked, rinsed with cold water and drained

In a 9" x 13 pan pour enough pasta sauce to just cover the bottom and prevent the pasta from sticking.

In a frying pan on medium heat cook 2 medium diced onions, 2 stalks diced celery, 1 diced large carrot, 1 lb ground beef, 2 diced cloves of garlic and seasonings of choice.  I used Epicure foccacia seasoning.  When this mixture is cooked through add the remains of the pasta sauce you already have open and then another whole can.

Now that your pasta is cooled, toss in a medium carton of ricotta cheese, 1 package of no-name frozen chopped spinach, 1 egg, salt and pepper.

Put the pasta mixture into the baking pan.  Cover with the sauce mixture.  Top with grated mozzarella cheese (I used 1/2 of a big block) and a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan.

Cover with foil and cook 45 minutes at 350F.  Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes.

The boys went crazy over it.

For the non-veggie lovers I made a small casserole using plain pasta without the spinach and ricotta.

I should learn to pre-measure when I'm creating.  It would certainly be easier for you, wouldn't it?  LOL

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